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AUDIENCE SCORE

Cobra Verde Videos

Cobra Verde Photos

Movie Info

When Francisco Manoel de Silva (Klaus Kinski) impregnates the three daughters of his plantation-owning employer, he is sent to West Africa to round up slaves. The irate land baron hopes the cynical and libidinous Francisco will meet certain death in the African jungles at the hands of hostile natives. Francisco instead manages to overthrow a mad monarch and set himself up as king. Despite enslaving the tribe, he shows signs of humanitarian benevolence. The character portrayed by Kinski in this feature is a cross between his insane portrayal in Aguirre and the comic madness in Fitzcarraldo. Francisco tries to escape from the natives when his employer swindles him and slavery is abolished. This fifth and final collaboration between director Herzog and Kinski is considered the weakest of the five features.

It's easy to understand why this was Herzog's final collaboration with the actor, but Kinski's performance nevertheless serves up a potent confusion of documentary and fiction that has long been an essential element of Herzog's filmmaking.

Linear storytelling was never Herzog's strong suit even under the best of conditions. His strength lies in capturing lucid lunacy on film, and Manoel da Silva's descent into the jaws of madness is a straight shot into the heart of darkness.

Audience Reviews for Cobra Verde

"Cobra Verde" may be unjustifiably obscure, but it's also no match for its heralded older brothers "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo." Director Werner Herzog and enfant terrible Klaus Kinski are teamed for the fifth and last time, but the chemistry seems off.
"Cobra Verde" has a more complex story than "Aguirre" and "Fitzcarraldo," despite having a similar plot about a driven fanatic undertaking a seemingly impossible mission. Kinski plays the title character, a roaming South American bandit who takes a job at a sugar plantation, only to fall out of favor after he impregnates the boss's daughters. As a result, he is pressed to sail overseas to barter slaves from Dahomey. It is expected that he will not return alive. Settling down in Africa, he becomes embroiled in a conflict between two rival kingdoms, and his original objective fades away in the chaos.
Kinski's performance is a bit erratic -- sometimes he's a man of sullen intimidation, other times he's the feral lunatic we expect -- and Herzog fails to get inside his head, instead seeming more interested in choreographing large crowd scenes. The rites and costumes of the natives *are* fascinating, but the illusion is punctured when they speak to Kinski in perfect German. Even Popol Vuh's droning soundtrack seems indifferent next to the group's masterful work on earlier Herzog projects.
The film's quirkier virtues include a goat receiving communion and a tribal girl's choir so shockingly charismatic that one wonders why they didn't follow Ladysmith Black Mambazo to international success. Hey, they even worked topless.

Eric Broome

Super Reviewer

½

The problem with this film is the main character. Kinski does a great job but he feels two-dimensional and seems to go with the flow rather than having any actual goal - ala Forrest Gump. Fortunately, Herzog's skills as a director are in full flow here and there are countless lingering shots of absolute beauty that seem to strain the camera lens as he tries to encompass the entire scene. Visually, it's a wonder, but it lacks a soul.

Marcus Woolcott

Super Reviewer

½

Pure unadulterated delightful madness.

Ken Stachnik

Super Reviewer

[font=Century Gothic]In "Cobra Verde", Francisco Manoel da Silva aka Cobra Verde(Klaus Kinski) is the most feared bandit in all of Brazil. One day, he is hired by Don Octavio Coutinho(Jose Lewgoy) to be the new overseer of his plantation. He excels at his job but also impregnates three of the boss' teenaged daughters, angering him a great deal. In trying to decide what to do with da Silva, Coutinho and his cronies come up with a plan to send him to Africa to reopen the slave trade, so dangerous a mission that it is a veritable death sentence.[/font]
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Werner Herzog, "Cobra Verde" is a scathing indictment of the slave trade at a time when little value was given to a human life, laying blame equally on profiteers both in Africa and Brazil . All of which is seen through the eyes of the movie's amoral protagonist who ventures from one land to the other without ever truly fitting in.[/font]